Maintaining proper health, fitness and physical appearance are major concerns for many people today. However, in many countries, a large section of the population have sedentary jobs. To compound this, many are unable to find the time to exercise because they spend so much time at these sedentary jobs. The typical office worker, for example, is confined to his or her desk about 7.5 hours per day.
In the United States, statistics paint a bleak picture with respect to present day sedentary lifestyles. For example, about 36% of Americans are obese and, with respect to the future working population, one out of three persons under 18 years of age is obese. A significant portion of the United States' medical costs is incurred in treating diseases associated with obesity. At first blush, it may seem that many persons address their lack of exercise on the job by working out at gyms. But only about 15% of Americans have gym membership and only about 10% of those who have membership use it.
Sitting for long periods without exercise can have significant negative effects on the body. For example, headaches, mental fatigue, stress related tension in the shoulders and accumulation of fluids in the lungs and neck are some of the consequences of sitting for long periods without exercise. One section of the body that is especially susceptible to this is the back. With respect to the back, sitting for long periods without exercise can cause back muscle imbalance, weakness, loss of flexibility, pain, arthritis, sciatica, degenerative disc disease and the like.
Poor posture while sitting is a further issue associated with the modern day sedentary life style. As noted above, sitting for long periods without exercise in and of itself is an health issue, but poor posture complicates this further. Examples of bad sitting posture include a person reclining too much in a chair or leaning out of the chair such that there is no support for the person's back. Currently, chair design is focused on providing proper back support from the pelvis sacrum region and the lumbar region of the back.
The problems presented by the modern day sedentary lifestyle is of growing concern. At least one city in the United States has considered this issue and has issued guidelines to address it. Specifically, the city of New York has issued “Active Design Guidelines” for designing office space to address obesity and its related diseases. The guidelines seek to provide architects and designers with approaches for designing urban spaces and healthier buildings. For example, the new designs place stairwells in convenient locations so that workers will use the stairs more often. Although buildings are now being designed to facilitate healthier lifestyles, generally, the furniture used in buildings are not designed to facilitate the healthier lifestyle desired by many today.